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RPT-Major underground and tunnel rescue operations
Rescuers pulled two survivors out of a tunnel connected to a 'hydropower station' on Nepal’s Trishuli River, on Friday. This was nine days after a glacier collapse caused a torrential mud, rock and ice that killed over 1,300 and left more than 5,600 people missing. Here is a list with some of the major rescue operations. Rescuers drilled through rock, concrete, and earth to free 41 workers who were trapped in a collapsed Himalayan tunnel for 17 days. The tunnel was part of the Char-Dham highway, which connected four Hindu pilgrimage sites in northern India. After sudden monsoon rainfall blocked the exit, a group of 12 boys with their soccer coach went to explore the Tham Luang Cave Complex in Thailand. They became trapped deep within a flooded cave network. Divers located the group alive after a multi-day search. All thirteen were rescued safely. Rescue of 33 miners who were trapped underground for two months by an explosion at the San Jose mine in Chile’s Atacama desert. In October 2007, all 54 trapped miners at a gold mine in Western Australia by a fire were rescued. The fire broke out in a caterpillar underground truck at the Kanowna Belle Gold Mine. Sixteen miners were trapped in the Beaconsfield mine, located on Tasmania's southern Australian island. Fourteen miners escaped immediately, one died, and two were rescued after spending a couple of weeks?about one kilometre underground. In July 2002, nine trapped miners were rescued after 77 hours of underground work at the Quecreek Mine.
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Italy's deputy Prime Minister says energy and banks should assist with public finances
The deputy prime minister of Italy suggested that banks and energy companies be prepared to accelerate tax payments in order to boost the public finances, without an official tax increase. Antonio Tajani, a?also?Italy’s Foreign Minister, said that the additional support could help fund next year’s budget, as well as any other measures to shield consumers from high energy costs. Tajani told reporters at the annual TEHA business forum that any policy should be modeled after the agreement Italy reached with banks and insurance companies last year to advance taxes to the state. He said, "It's only fair to tax the profits of oil companies and that they lend a helping hand to Italians who are in a difficult situation." How can?they help? By putting taxes on them to make the markets shiver? ... "The winning strategy is that which the government has pursued with the banks and insurance companies," he continued. Tajani's Forza Italia has always opposed the League, a coalition partner, in its proposals to tax "windfall profits" of energy or financial firms. He also cited as a model an agreement Italy reached with large energy companies in recent weeks to advance tax payments in order to help the government fund a reduction in fuel excise duty. "Banks, insurers, and large oil firms all have a role to play in times of?need. He said that raiding banks was for bandits. "Agreed solutions are the best way to go." When we begin to work on the budget for next year, if there is an emergency we will talk to banks," Tajani said when asked if the measure from last year could be extended.
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Major underground and tunnel rescue operations
Rescuers pulled out two survivors on Friday from a tunnel connected to a hydropower plant on Nepal's Trishuli River, nine days after the glacier collapse that caused a torrent of ice and mud. Here is a list with some of the most important rescue operations. Rescuers in 2023, who used drills to remove debris such as rock, earth and concrete, rescued 41 workers trapped inside a collapsed Himalayan tunnel for 17 days. The tunnel was part of the Char Dham highway, which connected four Hindu pilgrimage locations in northern India. 2018 - A group of 12 boys, their soccer coach and the Tham Luang cave complex in Thailand were trapped after sudden monsoon rains blocked out the exit. Divers located the group alive after a multi-day search. They rescued all thirteen. In 2010, 33 miners who were trapped underground for two months by a collapse in the San Jose mine?in Chile's Atacama desert, were rescued. In October 2007, all 54 trapped miners at a goldmine in Western Australia were rescued after a fire. Fire broke out in a 'caterpillar truck that was working underground at the Kanowna Belle Gold Mine. Sixteen miners were trapped in the collapsed 'Beaconsfield Gold Mine' on Tasmania, a southern Australian island. Fourteen miners escaped immediately, one died, and two were rescued after spending a total of?two weeks?about one kilometre underground. In July 2002, nine miners were rescued after spending more than 77-hours underground in the Quecreek Mine of Pennsylvania.
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Turkey, AIIB sign cooperation deal, first focus on marine cleaning, minister says
Murat Kurum, the Environment Minister, announced on Friday that Turkey had signed a collaboration agreement with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The AIIB will help support environmental investments, urban infrastructure, and climate change initiatives. Kurum stated that the first phase of the agreement will focus on environmental projects within the Marmara Region through an investment package valued at around EUR400million ($465million). Kurum stated that "we aim to provide significant assistance for the cleaning up of the Marmara Sea?and our battle against sea snot by investing a package worth approximately EUR400 million. This investment will be primarily used for advanced biological wastewater-treatment facilities." He didn't say how much total investment could be, or what the next phases of the agreement would look like. In the past, Turkey faced a "plague of sea snot" in the Sea of Marmara. This was a thick, slimy organic layer known as marine muclage that threatened marine life and fishing. The inner Sea of Marmara connects the Black Sea via the 'Bosporus' to the Aegean Sea via the Dardanelles. It is located in the heart of Turkey, the region most industrialised. Kurum stated that increasing wastewater treatment capacity and expanding advanced 'biological treatment' facilities, as well as strengthening environmental infrastructure are among the most important efforts Turkey is making to combat pollution in the sea. Kurum and AIIB vice president?Ajay bhushan pandey signed a cooperation agreement at the Climate 'Finance Summit held in Istanbul ahead of the COP31 U.N. - climate conference in November. Pandey said that Turkey is the AIIB’s most popular investment destination.
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Waller calms the bond markets after Waller's Fed announcement. Traders are now preparing for US employment data.
The world's shares tipped higher on Friday ahead of U.S. employment data, while the bond market received some much-needed relief after a Federal Reserve official reduced expectations for rate hikes and drove down the dollar. The dollar's decline had run its course, as the normal pre-payrolls patterns?played themselves out. But it left the Japanese yen poised for a weekly increase of nearly 2,5% -- its highest since late July when Japan and the United States?joined forces. The yen has seen its best weekly rise since late July, when Japan and the?U.S. conducted a rare joint effort to stop a downward spiral in the Japanese currency. The main European stock exchanges spent their mornings going nowhere. Meanwhile, renewed increases in oil prices and gas prices across the region continued to boost bets on the European Central Bank raising its interest rates next Thursday. Nasdaq and S&P futures both rose by 0.4%. Traders prepare for the U.S. August payrolls report, which is due at 8:30 am ET/12:30 GMT. The consensus is for a gain of 56,000 positions after a shocking drop of 23,000 in the previous month. The unemployment rate will remain at 4.1%. The announcement comes after Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller stated at an?NEXT Newsmaker's event on Thursday, that recent data showed some signs of deflation, and that if future reports confirmed that trend, then he would prefer to hold rates steady at the policy meeting this month. Money markets immediately reduced the chances of a Fed rate increase this month from 63% to 50%. This is a dramatic drop. These expectations surged as global bond yields reached multi-year highs this week, fueled by fears over persistent inflation, swelling debt, and geopolitical tensions. John Hardy is the head of global macro-strategy at Saxo Bank. He said that Waller's comments, that they finally see some disinflation, suggest that there was not much coordination within the FOMC, given what Kevin Warsh, (Fed Chair) said last week. The market has marked down the chances of a September move, but if the jobs data is a surprise, particularly on the downside, then we may see a lot more volatility. In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of regional shares closed the day with a 0.8% gain and was little changed for the week. Japan's Nikkei rose 1.3% but fell 1.9% in the last week. The blue-chips in China gave up their early gains to end the week down by 0.1%, while South Korea's KOSPI, which is a tech-heavy index, rose 1.6%. The Korean won, KRW=KFTC> also hit a new 14-month high. U.S. JOBS DATA LOOMS Traders are preparing for the U.S. Payrolls report, ahead of the U.S. Inflation data that is expected to be closely watched next week due to the mixed signals from the Fed. The economic data released on Thursday showed that the U.S. service sector was gaining momentum last month, with prices paid reaching a record high. Fed's "Beige Book", a survey of economic activity, also indicated that it had increased in recent weeks. Treasuries rose after Waller's dovish remarks, with the short end leading the way, as the yield-curve bull steepened due to fading bets about imminent rate hikes. Waller said "recent data suggests we are finally experiencing some signs of deinflation" and that, if this continued, he was "willing to hold" rates. He also said that he thought underlying inflation was "doing better than the core figures suggest." The yield on two-year bonds remained at 4.33%, after dropping 5 basis points overnight. This is a further move away from the 20-month high of 4.41% reached Wednesday. The 10-year yields remained at 4.75% after dropping 3 basis points overnight, and the 30-year yields remained at 5.23% following a 2-basis point drop. Germany's 10-year Bund Yield climbed 0.5 points to 3.36% in Europe, marking the fourth consecutive weekly increase and largest since mid-July. WARNED OF INFLATION RISE Investors who hold longer-dated bonds are still wary of inflation risk despite the lack of progress made by the U.S. to end its war with Iran and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures rose 7% to $95.52 per barrel this week, a six-week high. This week, European natural gas prices also rose 7% ( TFMBMc1>) to a record high of three years. Energy companies are growing increasingly concerned about entering winter with their stores at the lowest levels in more than a decade. Mark Dowding, Chief Investment Officer at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, said that the ECB would likely'remain on a hike path' if TTF gas futures pushed towards 100 over the coming weeks. After a 0.6% drop overnight, the dollar was trading at 99 cents against major counterparts. The dollar is expected to drop by 0.7% in the coming week. This helped the yen build on its gains as investors increased bets that Bank of Japan will raise rates this month. The dollar rose 0.3% last to 156.32yen after losing 1.8% overnight. Gold held steady at $4,477 per ounce on the commodity markets after a 2% increase overnight. The week was expected to be little changed.
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Sources say that Nigeria's Dangote plans on raising $1.5 billion through the IPO of its refinery.
Two people who have direct knowledge of this deal said that the Dangote Group plans to price its initial public offering (IPO) of its refinery unit in Nigeria at 525 naira per share ($0.40), a potential amount of $1.5 billion. One?of our sources and another person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the company plans to sell 4.1 Billion shares. The terms are still confidential. The sources did not specify what percentage of the refinery they would be selling. One source said that the order book for this offer, which will be the largest in Africa, is scheduled to open September 14. Dangote Refinery has declined to comment. One source said that there will be a 15% green shoe option, which would allow the company to raise more money if the offer was oversubscribed. The Dangote Group, which owns the refinery in Lagos, is raising cash to fund the doubling of the facility's capacity, up to 1.4million barrels of oil per day. Aliko Dangote, a majority shareholder of the group, announced at a Botswana business meeting late 'on Thursday night that the IPO would open within the next 10-12 days.
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Wildfires near Indonesia's capital prompt calls for action
Officials said that wildfires are spreading near Indonesia's new capital city, which is currently under construction. Project authorities have urged the disaster mitigation agency to conduct cloud-seeding, water-bombing, and other operations. Indonesia has intensified its efforts to control haze, particularly in six provinces that have been hardest hit by the forest and landfires on Borneo and Sumatra Islands, which total 73,311 ha. Wildfires are raging on Borneo Island in several spots, but in the eastern portion, which is home to the new capital Nusantara (Nusantara), the situation has been relatively calm in recent weeks, since the fires started to worsen in July, when the dry season began. Agus Riyanto is the director of emergency response for the disaster mitigation agency. The disaster response and mitigation teams of the archipelago in Southeast Asia are currently facing their most difficult dry season for a decade. This is exacerbated by the "super El Nino". Agus stated that the largest fire in the new capital territory was in a forest at Bukit Suharto or Suharto Hill. The hill is named after an autocratic ex-president. Around 300 hectares of land have been burned. Bukit Suharto is located around 50 km (31 miles), from the city center, where a number major projects have been built in the last few year for the new capital. As of September 2, around 400 hectares of land had been affected by fires in the Nusantara area. NEW CAPITAL PLAN HAS FACED DELAYS Joko Widodo announced that the predecessor of President Prabowo Subito, Joko Subianto, had plans to build Nusantara, a $32 billion capital city, in 2019. This project will replace Jakarta on Java Island, which is plagued by?chronic traffic congestion, flooding and land subsidence. Since Prabowo's election in 2024, the project has been delayed and its budget cut. Wisnubroto, an expert in urban planning, says Nusantara is not the best location for the new capital because it's surrounded by forest and has limited water supply. However, the fire risk there is lower than the provinces on the west and central coasts of the island that Indonesia shares with Malaysia or Brunei. Indonesia currently has 53 aircraft that are involved in water bombing, seeding, and other activities. Authorities have confirmed that Japan has sent aircraft and personnel over to help. A helicopter from South Kalimantan, a neighbouring province, will be dispatched to Nusantara for water bombing. Agus stated that the clouds in the area are still not sufficient to seed, but the disaster agency will do so as soon as it is possible. On Friday, hundreds of Muslims performed "Istisqo", or rain prayers, in front of Nusantara's state palace. The preacher Rusdi Abdallah said, "We need to ask God for forgiveness. If it is granted, Allah will send rain in abundance."
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Copper rebounds on falling stocks and targets 10-week winning streak
Copper rose on Friday, and was set to record a 10th consecutive weekly gain. As of 0900 GMT the benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange?was?up?0.3% to $14,373 per metric ton, moving towards its all-time high of $14,527.50. This week, the metal is expected to gain 0.5%. The metal has been rising every week since the beginning of June, as a result of soaring inventories in the U.S. In anticipation of possible import tariffs, tighten the market in other places. Shanghai Futures Exchange data released on Friday showed that copper inventories were at their highest levels ever. The weekly total fell by 13% to 63,000 tonnes, the lowest level since January 2024. LME Copper Stocks The?drop?was 475 tons and orders were given to remove another 1,550 tonnes. Copper prices will continue to rise, but the already high prices "are likely to limit gains in the near term," BMI, an Fitch Solutions unit, stated in a report. Christopher Waller, the Federal Reserve governor, made dovish remarks that led to a decline in the dollar overnight. A cheaper dollar can support greenback-denominated commodities by making ?them more affordable for buyers using other currencies. Aluminum fell 0.5% to $3.295 but is still on course to end the week at 1.6% higher. The cash-to-3-month aluminium spread The arrow has reversed into a slight backwardation. This indicates a tightening of availability. Citi stated in a note on aluminium that "we remain neutral to positive near-term due to low visible inventories, and a tight physical market." They added that the balance will become more difficult?overthe next six-12months as the growth of ex-China's supply accelerates. Zinc increased by 0.5%, to $3,932.50 with the three-month range Still?in steep reversal at $140 per?ton. After orders to remove 8,450 tons of lead stock, the price of lead increased by 0.5% to $1,912.50 Nickel grew 0.2%, to $16,825; tin fell 0.4%, to $54,700.
Global stock markets close out a difficult week as oil and bond yields remain high
The global stock market was headed for a largely lower week last Friday as the strain on the global bond markets did not show any signs of easing and the diplomatic deadlock over the Gulf pushed oil prices up to a one-month high.
The yields on U.S. government bonds resumed their rise after the surprise intervention by the Treasury on Wednesday. This was barely a relief from selling that had been sparked primarily by fears of inflation and fiscal pressures.
The increase came as?U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the government could increase its repurchases and also floated the idea for fiscal consolidation.
Analysts doubted he would be able to find the necessary spending cuts in order to reduce a budget gap of over 6% of GDP. Interest charges alone for this year totaled $1.2 trillion while U.S. government debt just passed $40 trillion.
The dollar is now heading towards the three-month lows it hit on Thursday. It has fallen almost 1% against major currencies this week.
"The initial Treasury buyback was remarkable, because it came as a total surprise. But the question is: 'Is this meaningful enough to make a lasting?impact'?" Christian Hantel is a portfolio manager for Vontobel.
We could still see the market trying to test whether they are ready to increase the $4 billion that they announced previously. It could be an exciting couple of days.
The 30-year bond yield in the U.S. increased by 3 basis points to 5.266%, while the 10-year bond yield was up 3.2 basis points at 4.73%. The 30-year bond yield increased by 3 basis points to 5.266%, while the yield on the 10-year bond rose by 3.2 basis point to 4.73%. Selling on Friday was heaviest in the 2-year Treasury, which was up 5 basis points for the ?day and 9 bps for the week at 4.236% following a stronger-than-expected U.S. purchasing managers' report. The markets assume that 5.3% in 30-year bond yields will be a painful threshold for Treasury. This is similar to what 160 yen has been for Japanese policymakers.
Cost of Borrowing
The global debt costs are rising as tech giants borrow heavily to fund AI capital expenditures, causing the discount on corporate profits to rise and stock valuations to be challenged.
The Nikkei was also feeling the strain, as it?slipped by 0.3%. This brought the losses for the entire week to nearly 4%. It is the?biggest drop weekly since mid-July.
Stock markets in Europe have made some early gains. STOXX 600 was still on track for its largest weekly drop since early July. It fell nearly 1%. MSCI's global stock index fell slightly.
Wall Street has seen some relief from the recent earnings slump. Major indexes were up by nearly 1% as of midday on Friday. However, they still fell by about 2% for the entire week.
Next week, when Nvidia releases its quarterly report, the AI industry will be put to the test. Much depends on Nvidia's outlook for data center revenue and infrastructure demand.
Walmart's Thursday slide of 9% was a clear example of what happens when expectations are not met.
WAR AND DEBASEMENT
Bessent made headlines by extending President Donald Trump's promise of economic war against Iran. He said that the U.S. will impose "the strongest sanctions in history" to the country.
The threats dimmed further hopes for a deal to fully open the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude reached a peak of $95 per barrel in a month, before profit taking set in.
Brent futures rose around 0.5% to $94 per barrel. This is up over 5% for the week. U.S. crude climbed 0.4% to $84.
The dollar has been losing ground in currency markets this week, as investors are concerned that the ever-growing U.S. government debt and policy uncertainty will cause the currency to lose its purchasing power, driving them towards scarce assets such as gold.
Yellow metal rose 1.45% to $4,583 per ounce, its highest price in nearly three months.
Dollar index fell almost 0.9% on the week to 98.74, after hitting a three-month low overnight. The euro was up by 1.0% for the week, at $1.1686, having touched a 14-week high. The last time it traded was around $1.1689. This is off the session highs.
The dollar's biggest weekly drop since January was 1.7% against the Swiss franc. It is now 0.7995 Francs.
Some investors have also been influenced by concerns over the rising U.S. national debt to look at alternatives, such as bitcoin. Bitcoin has typically benefitted from diversification away from U.S.-based assets.
Bitcoin reached a two-month high on Friday, and last was up almost 6% to $76,446, which is a good start for a 20% rise in a week. This would be its biggest gain in over 2-1/2 years.
Jonas Goltermann is the chief markets economist of Capital Economics. He said that "the dollar has come under renewed pressure due in part to a resurgent narrative about 'debasement.'
While we still think that such concerns are overblown and that an overall stronger dollar is likely to be the result of the economic backdrop in the months to come, the continued surprise from U.S. Policymakers could well matter more over the short term.
The dollar dropped around 0.2% to 158.79 Japanese yen.
(source: Reuters)